The Lion, The Witch, and The Box Office

Well that whole Brokeback Mountain business was just a dodge... the flick opened in only a few towns this weekend and hasn't really done enough business yet to track, but we're keeping our eye on it. Meantime, this weekend's real story is The Chronicles of Narnia, which brought in $67 million and perhaps will answer a lot of criticisms of "liberal", "Jew-controlled" Hollywood, which the James Dobsons of the world seem to think has a constant political axe to grind with every movie. (Box office recap here.) But, as we've said before, the only iron rule in the movie game is that projects have to make money, and in that this filmed allegory about Christ, complete with talking beavers, has succeeded. Consider this breathless review, which describes the film as "a miracle." And its crossover appeal goes the other way, too: consider this post from GayOrbit: "For sure you can see the parallels to Christianity, but the story stands on it’s own merit, so don’t let any preconceived notions about it being Christian propoganda stop you from enjoying this wonderful film." For the record, it's interesting that the next-most successful flick this weekend was a picture called Syriana.

Posted by Philip Ewing at December 12, 2005 11:32 AM

Category: Moving Pictures